Means for retrieving flexible bottle stoppers from below the bottle necks



N 1965 s. R. RIZZO 3,216, 90

MEANS FOR RETRIEVING' FLEXIBLE BOTTLE STOPPERS FROM BELOW THE BOTTLE NECKS Filed Oct. 22, 1962 l VIII)! INVENTOR. 59mm 7025 12 R12 20 United States Patent ()fitice 3,216,290 Patented Nov. 9, 1965 3,216,290 MEANS FOR RETRIEVING FLEXIBLE BOTTLE STOPPERS FROM BELOW THE BOTTLE NECKS Salvatore R. Rizzo, 6609 Atoll, North Hollywood, Calif. Filed Get. 22, 1962, Ser. No. 231,959 3 Claims. (Cl. 81-3.41)

The invention herein decribed pertains to devices for retrieving resilient bottle stoppers that have become dislodged from the necks of bottles and dropped into the space within the bottles, and more particularly to devices of this type comprising a handle having depending prongs attached thereto for insertion through the neck of the bottle, said prongs having hooked portions on the ends thereof for grasping the dislodged corks so that they may be removed through the bottle necks.

Various devices have been used and others proposed for this general purpose in the past, but they have usually required the maneuvering of the cork into a more or less definite position, and they have been more complicated than is now found to be necessary.

One of the objects is to supply a device of the type described that will be very easy to operate and that will not require special maneuvering of the cork.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described that will be very simple in construction.

A further object is to make the device durable.

Yet another object is to supply a design for such a device that will make is very inexpensive.

Still other objects will appear as the specification proceeds.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation, with certain portions broken away, of one embodiment of my invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section through a bottle containing a floating cork with the lower portion .of one form of my device inserted through the neck of a bottle and engaging the cork.

FIG. 4 is a section through the upper portion of the neck of a bottle with the lower portion of two of the depending rods of my device inserted therethrough.

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken on line 55 of FIG 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of my invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross section, partly broken away, taken on line 77 of FIG. 6.

The elements of my device that are insertable in the neck of a bottle for retrieving a lost cork comprise a plurality of rods or wires 2, which may be individual members, or each of them may be depending part of a longer wire formed substantially as indicated in FIG. 1 to provide an intermediate section 3 and a pair of outwardly bowed legs 4 and 5. Each leg of a given pair is provided with a hook or foot that extends laterally in a direction away from the corresponding hook or foot on the associated leg. These hooked ends turn slightly up- Ward at a slightly acute angle with respect to legs to which they are individually integrally joined. FIG. 1 shows two such hooks 6 and 7 on the legs or rods 4 and 5 respectively. In my presently preferred embodiment, two such wires, each formed into a pair of legs with adjoining end hooks, may be attached to handle 17 substantially as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This handle comprises a cross-member 18 and a shank 19 having an H-shaped cross-section. A cross section through the lower portion of the shank 19 taken on line 55 thereof, is shown in FIG. 5. From these two views, it will be apparent that another pair of legs that are integral with an intermediate section 3 are disposed on the opposite side of the central web 10 of the H. Four bosses 13 and 14, 20 and 21, extend outwardly from the side of the web 10 that is visible in FIG. 1, and a similar set of bosses are similarly arranged on the opposite side of the web. Two of these bosses 15 and 16 may be seen in FIG. 5. Bosses 13 and 20 must be spaced from the inside walls 22 of the H by a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the Wire from which the legs are formed, and bosses 14 and 21 are similarly spaced from the inside wall 23 on the opposite side of the H. The same general construction is used on the rear wall of the web 10. The hook on lug 26 that holds the upper portion of the leg or wire 8 against the web 10 may be seen in FIG. 2. A plate or cover 27 is secured to one side of the handle 17 to protect the mounting for the legs 4 and 5 and the intermediate section 3 as well as to keep them in position against the web 10, and a similar cover 28 is also secured to the opposite side of the handle, as indicated in FIG. 2.

A lug or hook 29, attached to web 10 is additionally provided to hold the intermediate section 3- in position, and a similar lug 30, likewise attached to the central web 10 is provided on its opposite side to secure the intermediate section of the other pair of legs firmly in place against this central web.

When using the cork retriever hereinbefore described, the lower ends or feet of all the rods or legs are inserted inside the bottle neck, as indicated in FIG. 4, where the wires or legs 4 and 5 are shown entering the bottle neck with their feet or hooks turned outward, away from each other. However, as the legs proceed further down into the neck 'of the bottle to a point where the outwardly bowed portions of the leg are passing through the bottle neck, the bowed portions are pulled together by the camming action of the inside of the bottle neck, with the result that the bottoms of the legs cross and cause the hooks or feet to turn inwardly, as clearly shown in FIG. 3. When the legs first enter the lower portion of the bottle they will of course be spread more widely than they are spread when in the position pictured in FIG. 3, with the result that they will ordinarily surround the cork, in which case the hooked lower ends will approach each other beneath the cork. The cork may then be lifted out by pulling on the handle 17 in order to withdraw the Wires or rods with the cork engaged therebetween.

It is not necessary, however, that the feet lift the cork from beneath. In fact, no attention whatever need be given to the manner in which the rods or feet engage the cork. If only one of the hooks or legs engages the cork, the pressure of the opposing leg or rod from the opposite direction results in the hooked end of the wire becoming embedded in the cork, and the withdrawing of the rods consequently retrieves the cork. The operation can be a very fast one. The wires can be pushed down into the bottle and quickly withdrawn without paying any attention to the cork, and in the great majority of instances the cork will have become engaged by one or more of the hooks and it may therefore be readily lifted out.

If the first insertion and withdrawal of the rods does not retrieve the cork, they may be quickly shoved back into the bottle again and pulled out again, and it is rarely necessary to try a third time. The whole process requires only three or four seconds.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate an alternative embodiment of my invention. In this embodiment, a pair of holes or channels 32 and 33 extend transversely at right angles to the handle 34. The intermediate section 35 connecting a pair of bowed out legs 37 and 38 is supported in hole 32, and the intermediate section 36 of another pair of rods or legs is supported in the channel or hole 33, one of these legs 39 being visible in FIG. 7.

It is important to the "operation of my device that the legs or wires be bowed outward substantially as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, and it is of course not essential that their upper portions be attached to a handle in either of the ways hereinbefore described and shown in the figures. It is possible, in fact, to employ a greater number of rods or wires with hooks that normally point outward as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6; for instance, four wires each considerably longer than those indicated in the illustrative embodiments could be twisted together at the center in a spiral fashion and then bent into a central loop. The two ends of the group could then be twisted around each other spiral fashion to form a shank beneath the previously described loop. Such a loop could then be flattened into a handle having somewhat the shape of the cross member 18 in FIG. 1, or it could merely be pressed into an oval form in which the fingers could be placed.

The eight wires below the twisted shank could then be formed into eight legs, all bowed in the manner hereinbefore described and provided with hooked feet like those in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6.

Various other modifications will also suggest themselves, and it will be clear to any mechanic that still other alterations may be made from the illustrative embodiments hereinbefore described without departing from the broad spirit of my invention as succinctly set forth in the appended claims.

My claims are: 1

1. In a device for retrieving corks, a combination including: a pair of flexible wires each reversed back on itself near the middle thereof to form an intermediate section between two depending legs that in the normal unflexed condition thereof are bowed outwardly, each of said legs having an integral foot that in the normal unflexed condition of said leg is turned outwardly away from the foot on the other leg; and a T-shaped handle, the depending portion of the T comprising parallel spaced flat side members and a generally flat element connecting the side members and so interposed between them that the general plane of the element is normal to the planes of the side members, each side of the element having (a) at least one boss extending therefrom for supporting the intermediate section of a different one of said pair of wires and (b) retaining means for holding said one of said wires against said element.

2. In a device for retrieving corks, a combination including: a pair of flexible wires each reversed back on itself near the middle thereof to form an intermediate sec+ tion between two depending legs that in the normal unflexed condition thereof are bowed outwardly, each of said legs having an integral foot that in the normal unflexed condition of said leg is turned outwardly away from the foot on the other leg; and a T-shaped handle, the depending portion of the T comprising parallel spaced flat side members and a generally flat element connecting the side members and so interposed between them that the general plane of the element is normal to the planes of the side members, each side of the element having (a) at least one boss extending therefrom for supporting the intermediate section of a different one of said pair of wires, said boss spaced from the nearest member by at least the diameter of said one of said wires, and (b) retaining means for holding said one of said wires against said element.

3. In a device for retrieving corks, a combination including: a pair of flexible wires each reversed back on itself near the middle thereof to form an intermediate section between two depending legs that in the normal unfiexed condition thereof are bowed outwardly, each of said legs having an integral foot that in the normal unfiexed condition of said leg is turned outwardly away from the foot on the other leg; a T-shaped handle, the depending portion of the T comprising parallel flat side members and a generally flat element connecting the side members and so interposed between them that the general plane of the element is normal to the planes of the side members, each side of the element having at least one boss extending therefrom for supporting the intermediate section of a different one of said pair of wires, said boss spaced from the nearest inside wall of the H by at least the diameter of said one of said wires to permit said wire to pass between said boss and said inside wall and then over said boss; and retaining means for holding each of said wires against said element, said means comprising a pair of plates each attached to a different side of said handle and covering at least the area between said members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 386,005 7/88 Engel.

FOREIGN PATENTS 386,724 12/23 Germany. 610,043 10/60 Italy.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A DEVICE FOR RETRIEVING CORKS, A COMBINATION INCLUDING: A PAIR OF FLEXIBLE WIRES EACH REVERSED BACK ON ITSELF NEAR THE MIDDLE THEREOF TO FORM AN INTERMEDIATE SECTION BETWEEN TWO DEPENDING LEGS THAT IN THE NORMAL UNFLEXED CONDITION THEREOF WARE BOWED OUTWARDLY, EACH OF SAID LEGS HAVING AN INTEGRAL FOOT THAT IN THE NORMAL UNFLEXED CONDITION OF SAID LEG IS TURNED OUTWARDLY AWAY FROM THE FOOT ON THE OTHER LEG; AND A T-SHAPED HANDLE, THE DEPENDING PORTION OF THE T COMPRISING PARALLEL SPACED FLAT SIDE MEMBERS AND A GENERALLY FLAT ELEMENT CONNECTING THE SIDE MEMBERS AND SO INTERPOSED BETWEEN THEM THAT THE GENERAL PLANE OF THE ELEMENT IS NORMAL TO THE PLANES OF THE SIDE MEMBERS, EACH SIDE OF THE ELEMENT HAVING (A) AT LEAST ONE BOSS EXTENDING THEREFROM FOR SUPPORTING THE INTERMEDIATE SECTION OF A DIFFERENT ONE OF SAID PAIR OF WIRES AND (B) RETAINING MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID ONE OF SAID WIRES AGAINST SAID ELEMENT. 